We have loved giving out Bike Month t-shirts for the last three years. But this year there is a twist, becasue the CU-Bike Month 2015 planning team was convinced we could leverage all the energy and excitement of our nearly 2,000 participants in Bike Month to together make a HUGE impact for biking in our community. And the way we can best do that in 2015 is to help raise funds and awareness for our Kickapoo Rail Trail, a 24.5 mile bike trail between Champaign/Urbana and Danville, with a stop at Kickapoo State Park.
So we have a cool Kickapoo Rail Trail themed CU-Bike Month 2015 t-shirt all ready and our plan is that everyone who makes a donation to the Kickapoo Rail Trail will get one of these shirts with the cool tagline: "I helped kickstart the Kickapoo Rail Trail!"
We want to encourage all of you to be involved and be generous, as giving to the trail is a huge investiment in the future of biking in our community. Champaign County Bikes will collect and give 100% of these donations to the Kickapoo Rail Trail fund that will be applied as local matching money for a large federal grant (20% local 80% fed). So your gift will be multiplied 4x, so it really makes a difference. Consturction will happen as funds come in, so we will begin to see work on the trail from Urbana to St. Joseph begin this fall!
Donations are not required to particpate in Bike to Market Day or any of the other Bike Month events. But it takes a donation this year to get a t-shirt. Donations for these shirts can be made at any of the CU Bike Month Events all during the month of May, or by visiting the Champaign County Bikes website.
Our suggested donation is $24.50, which works out to $1 / mile of the Kickapoo Rail Trail. Choose what works for you, and be generous if you can. (This is a tax deductable gift, receipts will be auto generated.)
Thanks!